Having said all that, I had a pretty good trip.  It's fun to be the aunt when one has actual experience with babies/kids.  My new niece is pretty damn cute and is a totally laid back, sweet little girl (aren't they all sweet at that age?).  I used Jedi mind tricks on my nephew, and he didn't mind me being there like he did with my parents (he kept telling my mother to go home, etc).

It was cold while I was there, and FUCKING COLD AS FUCK one particular day and night.  The water in the pipes of the toilet in the "wacky shack" froze, it was so cold.  My dumb Land's End coat that clock makes so much fun of did a great job of keeping me warm.

My sister is having some financial problems, and I was able to analyze what they were doing and what they need to do.  Quite frankly, they need to totally change everything about their finances, but that just isn't going to happen.  I decided to focus on the more immediate problem of paying down their debt.  I finally convinced my sister she needs an emergency fund.  FINALLY!  She's desperate enough to actually follow through as well.  She was considering having her husband work a part-time job, but I think that would be a very bad idea in their case.  He doesn't handle stress well, and being the SAHDad just wears him out every day.  Working on top of that would make things worse.  They still have plenty they can cut back on, so they're not totally desperate.  We'll see how it works out for them.

My dearest clock is the best!  He painted the kitchen while I was gone!!!!!!  The color needs to be a shade or two darker (no big deal, he only did one coat), but it looks awesome.  Now I have to find time to make new curtains and put together the accessories.

Our project list seems to be getting longer and longer, and I feel like we have less time.  We living on borrowed time wrt the timing belts in our vehicles.  We have to build the garden NOW if we're going to get stuff in the ground in time (spring planting starts in another week or so!).

Back in my previous life, my then MIL gave me a serger/overlock machine for xmas one year.  I had no idea what it was, or what I would do with it.  Years passed, and I asked my sister if she wanted it (she was a fashion design major and all).  I checked it as luggage on a trip to Philly, and it sat in her basement until this past weekend.  Since I'm sewing now, it only made sense that I take my serger back!  I picked up a book to teach me how to use it.  I think I'll actually start messing with it in a few weeks, after I finish clock's dude shirt.  It's a pretty nice entry-level serger.  I hope to get a lot of use out of it (finally!).

Oh hey, speaking of the dude shirts, I finished The Dude's dude shirt before my trip.  Well, mostly finished - I have buttons and button holes left.  It looks great!  I'm really proud of myself!  Guyabera shirts are a bit more tedious to put together than I originally thought.  My dudes will look awesome with their matching shirts!

I'm going to stop here for now.  I have a billion things to get done, and surfing is not a good use of my oh-so-precious nap time freedom.